Raising Annie
by ohmygoodnessnotanotherone
Summary: Jason and Spinelli are in a committed relationship, and Maxie wants to move in with her and Spinelli's little girl. This complicates matters a little. AU and non-explicit slash.


**Disclaimer**: The characters of this work of fiction belong to the creators of Jason Morgan, Damien Spinelli, and Maxie Jones (Thom Racina, Leah Laiman, Gloria Monty, Joseph Hardy, Robert Guza Jr., and Gene Palumbo) on the TV show, "General Hospital." This is a work of fiction inspired by these characters.

**A/N**: AU, set in the future. Presumes that Jason is not actually dead, and places he and Spinelli in an established slash relationship. If you really love and adore Maxie Jones, this is not the story for you.

This story is based on online conversations as I no longer watch the show.

For Suerum

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Jason paced his livingroom, building himself up into a right fury. He'd be damned if Spinelli was going to take Maxie and her baby in. He didn't care if the baby was Spinelli's, he didn't want that hussy of a woman living under his and Spinelli's roof.

When Spinelli returned with that mini-vixen, Jason was going to give her a piece of his mind, and then he was going to kick her out. He and Spinelli could raise this baby, and he doubted that Maxie wanted the child to begin with. She was just using it as leverage to get what she wanted, and that was no way for a child to grow up.

"Stone Cold," Jason mocked his partner as he paced, "it's just for a little while, just until she can get things under control." He threw his hands up in the air and then turned on his heel to pace back, nearly stubbing his toe on the couch as he did so. He blamed that on Maxie as well. She was an abomination and not fit to be called a woman.

She most definitely didn't belong under the same roof as Spinelli, a man who was loving and kind, and way too damn compassionate for his own good.

And, little Georgianna Grace Spinelli-Jones, should not be raised by Maxie. That little gem of a girl would be better off raised by a pack of wolves than by that woman. Hell, Jason shuddered when he thought about the distraught call he'd gotten from Spinelli when Maxie had lost the little eighteen month old toddler in the park, because she'd been flirting with some doctor.

Jason had helped Spinelli search the park for the little girl, and, just as it was starting to get dark, they'd found her - she'd tucked herself underneath a park bench and fallen asleep with the teddy bear her Uncle Jason had given her for her birthday tucked beneath her head, and the ducky-covered blanket that Spinelli had given her, wrapped around her thin shoulders. She was shivering, and there were dried tear tracks on her pudgy little cheeks

Jason had urged Spinelli to sue Maxie for custody, but, as was typical of Spinelli, he'd caved when Maxie had given him this sob story about how she had just taken her eye off the little girl for a second, and had promised that something like that would never happen again.

Jason was furious, and he was still angry when he thought about it even months later. Little Annie had been distraught, and had held her arms out for Spinelli, not her mother. She'd wailed and cried for her father when Spinelli had handed her over to Maxie. Jason wondered how Spinelli could walk away that night, but the look on his partner's face told him that it hadn't been easy.

Jason paused mid-step when he heard noise in the foyer. Spinelli's voice was booming as he said something childish to his little girl, and Jason took a deep breath, steeling himself for the inevitable.

Jason plastered what he hoped was a welcoming smile on his face, and walked toward the door. He really hoped that Maxie wouldn't say something cutting about his and Spinelli's relationship (again), especially not in front of Annie. But, it was Maxie, and she would do whatever the hell she wanted, no matter how many people she hurt along the way. It was all about her, no one else, not even her little girl.

Jason's heart sank a little as he thought about all of the ways which Maxie would sink that little knife into Spinelli's heart and twist it until his partner bled. Jason would do what he could to protect Spinelli and little Annie from Maxie's wiles, but it wasn't going to be easy separating Annie and Spinelli from Maxie's clutches.

"Wel..." the forced cheerful welcome died on Jason's lips when he opened the door to find a rather disheveled, and sad looking Spinelli and a very enthusiastic little girl holding her hands up to him, but no Maxie. Not that Jason was unhappy that Maxie wasn't there, but, by the look on Spinelli's face, something bad had happened.

"What happened?" he asked Spinelli, even as he bent down and swung the little girl up into his arms and planted a kiss on her cheek. She squealed with joy, and gave Jason a wet, slobbery kiss and clapped her hands.

"Daddy Jason, Daddy Jason," she shouted and bounced in his arms.

The moniker was new and Jason's heart skipped a beat, and he just knew that he was donning a goofy smile. It was a very good thing that no one but Spinelli and Annie were around to witness it, or his reputation as a stone cold killer would go right down the drain.

He looked down the corridor, thinking that maybe Maxie was just hauling a load of her own, as unusual and unprecedented as that would be, but there was no sign of Maxie. It appeared to be just Spinelli and Annie.

Spinelli gave a little shake of his head, and Jason moved so that Spinelli could enter the penthouse. He was pushing Annie's stroller ahead of him and was carrying a diaper bag in one hand and a large, overstuffed duffel in the other. Jason felt a prick of indignation toward Maxie for not helping Spinelli to the penthouse, and wondered where the hell the woman was.

"Stone Cold," Spinelli sounded beat, "could you get the door?"

Jason nodded and shut the door behind them, and then he grabbed his partner in alarm when Spinelli suddenly sagged. He helped Spinelli to the couch, and then stood there, uncertain when the younger man started silently crying. Annie patted his cheek, and Jason turned to look at her.

"Dada sad," she said with a pout, and Jason just nodded. He had no idea what to say, what had prompted Spinelli's sudden bursting into tears.

"Mama no come."

Jason should have known that Maxie was somehow behind this, and he wondered what the blonde-haired witch was up to, why she hadn't come to the penthouse with Spinelli and Annie.

"What happened?" he asked when Spinelli wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and looked up at him. Jason sat on the edge of the coffee table, so that they were eye-level.

"She left her," Spinelli said quietly. "When I got there, little Annie was with a babysitter, and there was this note." Spinelli fished in his pocket and pulled a crumpled up sheet of paper from it. He smoothed it out on his knee and then handed it to Jason.

Jason read the short missive and silently cursed Maxie, but he gave Spinelli a sympathetic smile, and nuzzled the crook of Annie's neck when she squirmed in his arms.

"Down, down," she said, and pushed away from Jason.

Shaking his head, Jason let her down. Their home had gone through a thorough toddler prep in the past few days, so Jason knew that she'd be relatively safe in the confines of the living room. A baby gate had been put up in front of the stairs, and on was cordoning the kitchen off from the living room.

"Teddy," she demanded of her father, opening and closing her hands to show that she really wanted her bear.

Smiling at his daughter, Spinelli complied with her impatient request, and dug the stuffed bear, already worn from the almost constant love she gave it, out of the duffel. She grabbed it before it was completely free from the bag, and Jason marveled at how much the little dark-haired, blue-eyed girl reminded him of her mother at times, but then she climbed up onto the couch beside her father and gave him a hug and a kiss, reminding Jason of Spinelli. She really was a perfect combination of the two.

She clambered down from the couch and then walked a little ways off before plopping down on her butt, and beginning a rather serious sounding conversation with her bear, who appeared to be listening intently. Jason watched her for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Spinelli.

Spinelli was looking at his daughter with such love in his eyes, that Jason was momentarily speechless. It was unguarded, and it made Jason want to kiss the man, but he knew that right now was not the time. Spinelli was hurting.

"How could she do that?" Spinelli asked him. His voice cracked and he tore his eyes away from his daughter and pierced Jason with a look of such raw pain that Jason felt as though he'd been suckerpunched. His stomach actually ached, and he reached out to cup Spinelli's cheek in the palm of his hand. Spinelli leaned into the touch and gave him a brief, sad smile.

"How could Maxie abandon little Annie like that?" Tears were pooled in Spinelli's green eyes, and Jason's heart ached for him.

"I don't know, Spinelli," Jason said, hating Maxie for doing this to the man who'd bent over backwards and then some for her over the past several years.

He did not understand what motivated Maxie, and why she felt the need to hurt Spinelli over and over again. Spinelli would tell him that she didn't do this thoughtless cruelty on purpose, but Jason would beg to differ. He believed that she knew exactly what she was doing when she penned those three short lines to Spinelli before taking off, presumably to work for some fashion designer in Europe.

"But, I do know that Annie's got one hell of a father," Jason said vehemently, kissing Spinelli squarely on the mouth. "And," he said when they pulled apart, "she doesn't need Maxie, not when she's got you."

Spinelli was blushing shyly, looking at him through his long lashes. The smile on his face was no longer etched in sorrow, but genuine, and filled with love.

"And, she's got an uncle who will go to hell and back to keep her safe," Spinelli added.

Jason nodded and chuckled. "You bet she does."

Spinelli reached for his hand, and traced his palm with an index finger. He brought Jason's palm up to his lips and kissed it before releasing it.

"Dada, Daddy!" Annie shouted and clapped. "Kiss Annie, and Teddy." She insinuated herself between the two men and lifted her arms upward toward Jason, who laughed and lifted her onto his lap.

"One," Spinelli said.

"Two," Annie breathed the word out in an excited, eager whisper.

"Three," Jason said as he tickled the little girl, and he and Spinelli kissed her on either cheek, and then obediently kissed Teddy when he was hefted up in the air.

"Kiss, kiss," Annie encouraged, pushing her Daddy toward her Dada, and shaking his head, Jason complied.

That little girl had the both of them wrapped around her little finger, and Jason didn't even want to start thinking about what things would be like when she was a teenager. He was definitely going to invest in a shotgun, because, as much as he loved his revolver, it didn't have as much kick as a shotgun did, and it packed far less of a punch.

"We are going to be in so much trouble," Spinelli groaned, but he had a huge grin on his face as he looked at Jason and his daughter.

Jason nodded, and then tossed Annie up in the air and caught the giggling girl. He knew that there would be rough times ahead of the three of them, but he also knew that the joy that would come from raising Annie with Spinelli would far outweigh any of the trials that they were bound to face.

According to her note, Maxie had given full custody of Georgianna to Spinelli, and had even given her consent for Jason to adopt the little girl. Jason knew that it was just a matter of time before Maxie came waltzing back into their lives making demands and issuing threats, but until then, Jason would make the most of things with his family. He'd employ Diane to write up solid legal documents which would make it impossible for Maxie to come and take Annie away from them when she would inevitably try to do so.

"How about some dinner?" Jason asked, looking over Annie's head at Spinelli.

"Mac an' cheese?" Annie asked.

"Peas and carrots, too," Spinelli said seriously.

Annie frowned and turned to look at Jason. She pouted, her lower lip trembling dramatically, and Jason's heart froze. He swallowed and looked at Spinelli who was watching them with a look of amusement on his face.

"We can have ice cream for dessert," Jason didn't even know where those words came from as he made the promise to the little girl.

She tilted her head sideways and wrinkled her nose and then hugged him. "Ice cream!"

Spinelli shook his head and then mouthed the word, 'Whipped,' at him.

Jason gave him a dirty look, but knew that his partner was right. He was whipped, and not just by the little girl he held in his arms. He leaned forward, closing the space between them, and kissed Spinelli, relishing the way the other man's mouth opened to him and the soft little moan that escaped his lips as they kissed.

No, raising little Annie wasn't going to be easy, Jason mused long after he and Spinelli had put the little girl to sleep in her new crib and were headed to bed themselves, but it would certainly be well worth it. Especially if it meant that he'd get to have a bemused, fatherly Spinelli all to himself at night.

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Reviews would be awesome.


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